A snack board piled high with veggies and dip, chips and guacamole, dried fruit and nuts, cheeses and crackers, grilled or roasted vegetables, and sliced prepared meats is my favorite fast, weeknight dinner hack. Adding an interesting dip like this Harissa-Roasted Carrot and Bean Dip elevates it to a whole new level.

This recipe comes straight from the pages of Joe Yonan’s newest cookbook, Cool Beans: The Ultimate Guide to Cooking with the World’s Most Versatile Plant-Based Protein, with 125 Recipes. The harissa adds a hint of spicy to the dip while the carrots contribute sweet, and together they create magic in a bowl. The dip is easy to make (and it’s vegan too!) with just a few simple ingredients—carrots, harissa, garlic, white beans, mint, evoo, and lemon juice—and you can serve it with everything from crunchy raw vegetables to crispy corn chips.

Want to learn more about beans? Want to get to know Joe Yonan? Check out this week’s Liz’s Healthy Table podcast.

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Harissa-Roasted Carrot and Bean Dip

 

Author: Joe Yonan, author of Cool Beans

Recipe type: Appetizer

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Joe says: The combination of harissa and mint—one spicy, one spicy, one cooling—takes this dip into can’t-stop-eating territory. Use cannellini, navy, great Northern, or another white bean. Refrigerate in an airtight container for up to 1 week.

Ingredients

• ½ pound carrots, cut into 1-inch pieces
• 1 tablespoon harissa, plus more (optional) for finishing the dish
• 3 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil, plus more for finishing the dish
• ½ teaspoon kosher salt, plus more to taste
• 5 garlic cloves, unpeeled
• 1¾ cups cooked or canned no-salt added white beans (from one 15-ounce can), drained but not rinsed (reserve the liquid)
• ¼ cup lightly packed mint leaves, plus more chopped mint for finishing the dish
• 1 tablespoon fresh lemon juice

Instructions

1. Preheat the oven to 450°F.
2. On a small rimmed baking sheet, toss the carrots with the harissa, 1 tablespoon of the olive oil, and the salt. Place the garlic on one side of the sheet. Roast until the carrots are fork-tender, 20 to 25 minutes. Let cool slightly.
3. Squeeze the soft garlic cloves out of their skins into the bowl of a food processor or blender. Add the carrots and use a spatula to scrape in as much of the browned roasted harissa bits from the pan as possible. Reserving a few whole beans for garnish if desired, add the rest to the food processor or blender, plus the remaining 2 tablespoons of olive oil, mint, and lemon juice and puree until smooth, scraping down the sides of the bowl as needed. Add a little water or some of the reserved bean liquid, a few tablespoons at a time, to loosen the mixture if it is too pasty in texture. Taste and add more salt if needed.
4. To serve, spoon the dip onto a shallow plate and use the back of a spoon to swirl it. Add the whole beans and a little dollop or two of harissa, if desired, drizzle with olive oil, and sprinkle with the chopped mint. Serve with pitas, crackers, or raw vegetables.

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If you want to learn more about beans and get more bean-based recipes, check out my latest recipe roundup of 42 Bean Recipes Kids & Families Love over on my blog.